The Potter Legacy
by McWhinneyWibbles
Summary: What if Voldemort wasn't the only guy who created a Horcrux? It's time Harry took a closer look at his family heirlooms. And what is up with the Marauders Map?
1. Chapter 1

_Halloween 1998_

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death itself".  
Harry Potter sighed as he read the cryptic family motto, which had been etched onto the smooth marble of his parent's gravestone. He didn't have all that many reminders of Lily and James. But on the anniversary of their death, while the rest of the Wizarding World celebrated, there was nowhere else Harry would consider going. He was wearing his father's invisibility cloak, wrapped tightly around his body like a comfort blanket. He shivered as a whisper of wind brushed his ear; all Hallows eve was thick with souls of the deceased, and he was only too aware of those who had died for his cause. He had finally succeeded that summer in destroying the Dark Lord, but there had been a hefty price to pay. Another shudder ran up his spine, and he decided it was time to leave.

Harry squeezed his frugal pieces of memorabilia; the cloak, his mirror from Sirius, his treasured Marauders Map, and finally, his fingers rested on the Resurrection Stone. After the last battle, Harry had ventured into the forest to find Slytherin's heirloom ring; it wouldn't do for just anyone to stumble across it, and these things had a way of being found. With a sharp _pop_, he apparated away.

By the time Harry arrived home, he felt uncommonly exhausted. He allowed one large tear to role down his cheek before collapsing into bed. Meanwhile, in the graveyard at Godrics Hollow, the souls and spirits continued to whisper excitedly.

####

Harry woke bleary eyed, and blinked away his sleep. Glancing at the windows, he saw that the sun was already high in the sky, and in the next room, he could faintly hear voices. Guessing it to be Ron and Hermione, Harry crept to his bedroom door, planning to ambush his friends.  
"shh, you'll wake him if you're not careful!" whispered a high pitched womanly voice.  
"It's about time that lazy bugger got out of bed; he's been sleeping all morning, and I want to see him," announced a deeper tenor.  
"Our Harry is NOT a lazy bugger!" retorted the woman.  
Harry chuckled to himself, and grabbed a scrap of paper. He brought his wand out and transfigured the scrap into a replica of Batman's mask; Harry always liked to claim (jokingly) that he and his muggle superhero would have done well at taking out Voldemort together.  
He apparated into the living room behind the two intruders, cast a quick _sonorous_, and bellowed, "who DARES try to wake the Dark Lord Potter from his precious slumber?"

Two figures visibly jumped and spun around to face him, shock etched over their features. But nobody was more shocked than Harry Potter, when he looked up to see not Ron and Hermione, but carbon copies of James and Lily Potter, stood in his own front room. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't get any words out before James crouched into a defensive combat posture, and fired a bright red stunner straight at Harry's forhead. He promptly collapsed and remembered no more.

When Harry regained consciousness, he kept his eyes shut, trying to remember where he was. He could hear two frantically whispering voices nearby, and strained to listen in.  
"James!" scolded a woman- "Do you really think it was necessary to tie him up like that?"  
Harry squirmed, and realized there were thick ropes tying him to one of his own chairs. So he was still at home; good.  
"You heard Harry! He just admitted to being a Dark Lord, I'm not about to let him run around cursing us."  
"Well don't you think you stunned him a little hard maybe? I don't think he was going to attack us-"  
"He was wearing a bloody mask Lils, I think he was ready for combat!"  
Harry squirmed again when he heard the nickname 'Lils'; the morning's disastrous events came back to him and he faintly groaned.  
"You just can't let that Auror stuff go, can you?"  
"Don't blame me, the last time we were alive Voldemort was attacking people left right and centre and I like to give as good as I get-"  
"shh James, I think he's waking up-"  
"About bloody time-"  
Harry opened his eyes to find James Potter, his presumed-dead-father, bending over and studying the sculpted black mask which was still transfigured onto his face.  
"AAghh!" James screeched as he lept backwards, surprised by a pair of piercing green eyes, pointed a shaky wand in Harry's face. "Try anything funny and I'll- I'll turn you into a frog!"  
"Isn't that slightly... 4th year behaviour honey?" chided Lily gently.  
"Fine," he said, smiling indulgently at his wife, before turning to Harry with a hostile expression. "If you refuse to cooperate, I'll hand you over to the Aurors, Dark Lord Potter."

Harry stared at his presumed-dead-parents, baffled for a moment. With a sinking feeling, he realized that he had just made a very bad first impression. Of course they did not understand his muggle outfit, and had taken him at his word.

So Harry did the only appropriate thing he could think of; threw his head back and roared with laughter.

It wasn't long before James Potter hit him with another red stunner.  
"I told you he was crazy," he mumbled to his frowning wife.

####

Harry blinked his eyes open, and looked up at his very-much-alive-parents, who were seated across from him on the sofa, facing each other. This was getting ridiculous; he wanted explanations. Why were they here? And more importantly, where had they been for the last 17 years? His head felt like it was going to explode with questions, when James finally turned to face him, nudging Lily as he did so.  
"We have come up with a plan-" James began addressing him. Harry opened his mouth to butt in with a few choice questions questions, but was stopped by a quick _Silencio_ from Lily and was left opening and closing his mouth to no avail.  
"Once you stop gaping like a fish-" -Harry clapped his mouth shut- "-Your mother and I have decided to take this whole mess to Dumbledore to see if he can fix whatever went wrong. Its time you were given some true Potter values; I can see that Sirius hasn't done his job nearly as well as I'd hoped."  
"Can't say I'm surprised; whatever you saw in that funny old dog, he isn't exactly Godfather material-"  
"Liiilly" hissed James, obviously pained to have this old argument dredged up in front of his son.  
"Now, will you comply?"  
Harry smiled sympathetically at his parents, who obviously didn't know that the old Headmaster was 6 foot under. As Lily lifted the silencing charm, he calmly said, "I'm afraid Dumbledore's dead."

Lily shreiked. "WHAT? YOU KILLED DUMBLEDORE? HOW-"  
"HARRY JAMES POTTER" interrupted his father. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?"

"I didn't, Snape had to-" Harry tried to defend himself, but his father jumped in, narrowing his eyes.  
"Snivellous..." hissed James. "So that's who turned you over to the dark side. I should have known; the bat-like mask, your greasy hair-"  
Harry squirmed again and tried to run a hand through his attractive black locks, but was held back by the thick ropes of an incendious charm. Ok, so he hadn't had time for a shower this morning, but GREASY? That was pushing things one step too far.  
"You can't just barge in here after 17 years and insult my appearance, knock me out and tie me to my own furniture! You should be dead, both of you! I got rid of Lord Voldemort, I became Hogwart's best seeker in a century, I tried to make you really proud, both of you, even though I was terrible at potions, but where WERE you?" Harry panted. He watched James's eyes soften at his outburst.

"Quidditch? You played Quidditch?"

"I don't think that's the most important thing right now, honey-" said Lily, nudging her husband.  
Harry huffed, and tried to continue. "What I'm trying to say is- I'm really not a Dark Lord. I copied this mask off a muggle superhero to prank my friends! Only- I didn't guess it would be you two in the front room..."

That word, _prank_, was like a key to James's heart. _Prank_. He smiled, imagining his son creeping up on friends in fancy dress.  
"So- Sirius didn't do such a bad job after all?" asked James. He stuck his tongue out at his frowning wife.

"Look-" sighed Harry, "I think you'd better untie me, then I'll explain my side. And- don't think I haven't forgotten, I want to know EXACTLY where you two have been hiding."

####

Harry now sat, maskless and untied, on his plush leather sofa between his not-dead-parents. Three magical mugs of tea floated towards them, bumping against each other and giggling together at some stupid game. Sighing, Harry grabbed a mug and scolded it for spilling just over half it's contents on the way from the side-board.  
"That should teach you not to stir so much sugar in," teased the mug, sticking it's creepy ceramic tongue out. Harry shuddered, and gulped down the tea before he could consider the implications of a sentient magic mug. When he was finished, he looked up at his parents, who were still inspecting him for signs of any injury.

Harry had skimmed over the events of his childhood, hurriedly describing life at the Dursley's and his discovery of magic and Hogwarts. He conveniently left out details like the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the spree of Defense Professors who had tried to maim him, and his miserable cupboard life at Number 4 Privet Drive. Harry wasn't even sure how to handle his parent's concern about the little things, and decided to broach the bigger topics later. He cringed as the conversation inevitably turned to Sirius, before covering his final year; fighting death eaters, hunting Horcruxes, and generally saving the world. His parents couldn't help but laugh at Harry's explanation of Batman, and Lily nodded approvingly when she heard his Bond-themed moniker, The-Boy-Who-Only-Lived-Twice.

"So-" began Harry, pushing away his empty magical mug before it tried talking again- "Now it's your turn. You've heard my story. I want to hear where you've been."  
James stiffened, opened his mouth, then closed it again.  
"Gaping like a fish indeed" mumbled Harry.  
"Well, I rather thought you might have noticed, we've been dead."  
"So what changed?" questioned Harry. He actually wondered why he wasn't more bothered by their sudden appearance, but shrugged when he remembered all the cool stuff magic could do.

"Voldemort wasn't the only one who could make Horcruxes..." James blinked when he noticed that Harry had flopped forwards and passed out. He turned to Lily, with a bemused expression.  
"Was it something I said?"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

_"Voldemort wasn't the only one who could make Horcruxes..." James blinked when he noticed that Harry had flopped forwards and passed out. He turned to Lily, with a bemused expression._  
_"Was it something I said?"_

Harry lazily opened his eyes, regaining consciousness for the fourth time that morning. He blinked owlishly, glancing around his empty living room. Suspiciously empty.  
"Ha-arry?" Whined a recently familiar voice.  
Huffing to himself, Harry climbed to his feet (slowly, as he was still quite dizzy from _THAT_ revelation) and peeked into the entrance hall. His newly-acquired-father was swinging, upside down, next to his still-breathing-mother, as if they had both been hit by _Levicorpus_. Harry rolled his eyes; the doormat was spelled to string up anyone who tried to cross without his permission. More than a few friends had complained about this brand of paranoia, but Harry still hadn't relaxed entirely from the war. Besides, sometimes it was funny and he got to see Hermione's knickers.  
A sharp cough brought Harry out of his reverie, and he looked up to see his dangling parents. He cast the counter curse and a quick cushioning charm, before folding his arms.  
"What on earth were you doing?"

James, who had stood up and brushed himself off first, looked sideways before answering. "You're mother was hungry- it's hard work coming back from the dead!"  
"So... You weren't trying to sneak out on me?"  
"No!" His parents replied together, a little too quickly. Harry narrowed his eyes.  
"Look Harry-" his mother began cautiously- "We know the whole Horcrux thing was a bit of a bomb to drop-"  
Harry tapped his left foot.  
"We were just going to give you some time to think about it, to calm down-"  
"CALM DOWN?" Harry all but shouted. "I just spent the last year HUNTING Horcruxes. You could have left me a note, like, be careful with this Harry, it's got the undying souls of your parents trapped inside. But _no-o-oh_. I hope you used something sturdy-"  
"It was the cloak" mumbled James.  
"The what?"  
"The invisibility cloak".  
Harry's jaw dropped a mile. How many times had he nearly lost it, left it lying around, or close to being burnt to a crisp?  
"You mean- I've been carrying around the Horcrux of my mum and dad, in my bleeding trouser pocket? For SEVEN YEARS?"

"We tried to give you hints, but- no offense, you can be a bit slow, son."  
Lily chimed in- "Never wondered why Dumbledore held on to it all those years? Christ, we even came out of Voldemort's wand, and you were still convinced we were gone forever."  
"And I will never live down my shame that on recieving said cloak, my son's first idea was to use it to sneak into the school library. I thought I told you to use it well!"  
"I like to think it was my influence" replied Lily, a dreamy smile plastered on her face.

Harry held up both his hands-"alright! But why now? Why did you wait until now?" He swallowed hard, looking from father to mother.

Lily took a deep breath. "It was- the nature of our deaths. You have to understand that Voldemort, even as a roaming spirit, was a really powerful wizard. While he was still alive, it was impossible for us to regain our bodies and return. When you finally killed him, you released both of us."

"That's why- that's why you appeared? That night in the graveyard when you came out of Tom's wand?"

"Correct. Then, when you finally vanquished him, you freed our spirits. But the strength of our Horcrux had diminished, and we needed you, Harry, to bring the Deathly Hallows to our grave in Godric's Hollow, on that night of Hallows Eve, when the spirits run wild. We took a little of your power, and the wild magic of the night, and the power of the Horcrux in your arms. The ancient magic entwined in that cloak was enough that both James and I could make one together. You brought us back to life! So of course we had to follow you home and meet you."

Harry narrowed his eyes. It sounded so simple; so perfect. Like a well rehearsed jigsaw. But then he remembered the ritual. The _very dark_ ritual, which may have been responsible for Voldemort becoming a rather unhinged wizard. It was a twisted form of magic, and Harry had never imagined his picture-perfect parents capable of pulling off such an act.

"Who did you kill?"

"Pardon?" James and Lily said together, eyebrows shooting up.

"For the ritual. You have to murder in cold blood to create that Horcrux. THAT's why they're so evil. THAT's why I spent the last year destroying them. They split your soul in half! Anyway, how did you even learn about them?" Harry knew he was bombarding his parents with questions, but he couldn't help it. He felt tears sting his eyes; Lily and James Potter were supposed to be good people. He had held them on a pedestal for as long as he could remember, yet now they were here in all their imperfect glory, and his dreams were crashing down around him.  
Harry clutched his head as these thoughts hit him, one by one, physically flinching away from the people stood on his doormat. Something prodded his elbow, and he looked down to see a floating magical mug.

"Quit shouting and have another cuppa"

####

This time Harry sat across from his parents. For the first time that day, he studied both of their faces and observed that they weren't much older than himself. Lily and James had to be in their early twenties; death appeared to have frozen the process of ageing. Harry did a few quick sums in his head, and realized with a shock that neither could be older than 22. That only left a four year age gap between himself and his biological parents. Harry wriggled in his armchair and took an awkward slurp from his magical mug. Then he sat back and gazed expectantly at the couple.

An awkward air hung heavily in the room; this was hardly the laughing family reunion James Potter had imagined. To start with, Harry was _old_. He was really old, and had outgrown any real need for his parents. He knew next to nothing about them, and was suspicious to say the least. James was mortified (though he wouldn't let it show) that he had mistaken his son for a Dark Lord, and hoped it would be a story to laugh about later, over pints at the pub. That was if Harry still wanted to know his parents, after he revealed what they had done. James looked to Lily, who nodded, then turned his gaze back at his son and launched into an explanation.

"They were a couple, deeply embroiled with Voldemort. Both related to your godfather Sirius actually- he gave us his blessing, but he never did care much for family. They were my relatives too by some stretch, although Dorea liked to cover up that half of the family tree with a heavy oak bookcase. They were an old couple, but all the more spiteful because of their age. Dumbledore approved our plan- I think he saw them as two rotten chess pieces, which needed to be removed form the board."  
James looked up shamefaced and paused, but Harry did not say anything; rather he chose to glare in silence.  
"Cygnus Black and Druella Rosier. Believe me, I'm not proud, and their names have haunted me since. Neither of us are, but we were at war, and so many had already died-"  
"-and we had you to think of," said Lily with a sad smile. "We couldn't leave you to the wolves, and there was that damn prophecy. We would have done anything to protect you- we tried everything."

"I know," Harry replied with a sigh. He felt incredibly guilty; too many people had died for him, and for that reason, he couldn't bring himself to push away his parents. They weren't like the perfect little photographs in his black and white album; they were so much more than that! Breathing people with skeletons in the closet, who had dabbled in Dark magic and come to regret it. Harry decided to make it his mission to find out more about these people- he wanted the facts and the secrets before he would trust them.

"So how did two esteemed members of the Order of the Pheonix find out how to create a Horcrux?"

Harry made a mental note that it was James, again, who leapt to answer his question.  
"Sirius and I used to love playing hide and seek. In the early years, we'd play all over Grimmauld place. I was always pretty good- you can't beat a good invisibility cloak-"  
Harry smirked at this, and tried to imagine his Godfather and Father as children, running around the grim Black ancestral home.  
"-and one of my favourite places to hide was the library. Some of the books in there are really dark- they scream at you, they try to bite you, and I'm sure one of them tried to give me a love potion. Sometimes I tried to read them-"  
Lily snickered. "How did that go, oh brainy one?"  
"Li-ily!" James whined. "I'm telling the story here."  
He harrumphed loudly, then continued.  
"I've always had this obsession, from my father I think. I always wanted to live forever. You must have seen our motto- "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death itself". So you can imagine my reaction when I stumbled over a chapter entitled 'Cheat Thy Death'. We weren't at war yet, but we were old enough to know that if somebody died in combat, they weren't coming back. Creating a Philospher's Stone was way out of my league, and sounded too much like hard work. But Horcruxes- that sounded like a possibility. The more I read about them, the more I became convinced they were the only solution- it's part of the charm-"  
"Hang on," Harry interrupted."There were books on Horcruxes, just SAT there in the Black family library?"  
"I-um, I used the cloak to sneak past Orion's wards into the strictly adult section-" Harry smiled triumphantly- his Dad had used his cloak in the library too and had no right to tease him for it!

"Alright, you can stop smirking- I used it for far more original things FIRST!"  
"Oh yeah?" Harry's grin threatened to cover his face.  
"Like dying my hair pink?" said Lily helpfully. Harry couldn't contain his laughter and before he could defend himself, and a fluffy cushion hit him square in the face. He grabbed the cushion and threw it right back, yelling "I am the true master of being awesomely invisible!"  
"Prove it!" yelled James as he pounced on his laughing son and with a battle cry, initiated a merciless tickle-fight. Lily clapped and cheered, feeling relieved that Harry was definitely NOT a Dark Lord, and really just had a quirky sense of humour.  
Between gasps of air, Harry battered his father with another cushion. Then he remembered all the cool things magic could do, pulled out his wand and cast a tickling hex. James rolled away, and both men jumped into a defensive crouch, circling each other around the spacious living room.

A full blown hex war ensued; father and son were surprisingly well matched. James had gone through a good deal of Auror training before he was forced into hiding and forgot nothing from his days as a Marauder, when he had fondly terrorized the halls of Hogwarts. But to his disappointment, Harry was not yet covered in coloured patches; he was adept at dodging Death Eater curses and Petunia's frying pans and avoided an impressive number of James's hexes. Harry was panting and desperately wanted to win, so he decided to dredge up an old strategy. He cast _Serpensortia_ to summon a friendly venomless Cobra. A large snake materialized on the floor beside him and looked up expectantly, waiting for instructions.  
"Grab him from behind!" hissed Harry in parseltoungue with a smirk.  
James gave an undignified shriek and dropped his wand as the Cobra pinched his bottom, then proceeded to wrap around his belly and lift him into the air.  
"Good boy, you can let the Man down. Come towards me, and I will give you a treat-"  
Harry patted the Cobra's head affectionately, then cancelled the spell. He grinned triumphantly and looked up at his parents.

Who both shared a horrified expression.

"You've got to be kidding me-"


End file.
